Yes, there have been other threads that have discussed future games, but I figure it's worth making a single thread to consolidate it in. Given the hints that were dropped in AC, a third game is pretty much confirmed. So what should be in it? Anything goes... boss fight ideas, locations, characters, story elements, new moves, whatever comes to mind, feel free to add. I'll be posting mine in the next few days, but I'm going to bed now because the new semester starts tomorrow

Gameplay
* Context-sensitive takedown animations. We got something like this for counters when Batman's close to a wall, so why not go further with it? Would apply to both combat takedowns and silent predator moves.
* For the love of God, fix the ground takedowns. With the advent of Super Stun, pulling them off is no longer a problem, but I'm sick of Batman doing that goofy little twist through the air only to punch them in the ass rather than the head.
* Give Robin and Nightwing grapnel boosts.
* Give Catwoman some more gadgets.
* Remove the freeze cluster bomb and replace it with a powerful, once-per-map gadget that allows Batman to trigger a sonic device that calls in a massive swarm of bats, incapacitating ALL enemies on the map for about ten seconds or so and freeing them up for a silent takedown from any direction (like the smoke grenade).
* Make Catwoman's Thief Mode less blurry so I can actually, y'know, see stuff.

Characters
* Robin and Nightwing, each with their own playable story chapters this time, and on the main disc rather than DLC.
* Playable Batgirl
* Return of Two-Face, and this time, don't make him a bitch
* Return of Scarecrow
* Little or no Zsasz (getting kind of tired of him)
* Deadshot, with a better finale
* Hush as one of the main villains
* Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle

Story
* Set at least five years after AC, to give Li'l Punchline a chance to grow up and be somewhat of a character
* Scarecrow returns with Titan and wreaks havoc on Gotham City, forcing the government to set up a quarantine zone in a section of the city with Batman inside (yes, this is me saying the game shouldn't be set in the entirety of Gotham) and you have to combat Scarecrow while dealing with fear-gas-induced Joker hallucinations.

Gameplay
* Context-sensitive takedown animations. We got something like this for counters when Batman's close to a wall, so why not go further with it? Would apply to both combat takedowns and silent predator moves.
* For the love of God, fix the ground takedowns. With the advent of Super Stun, pulling them off is no longer a problem, but I'm sick of Batman doing that goofy little twist through the air only to punch them in the ass rather than the head.
* Give Robin and Nightwing grapnel boosts.
* Give Catwoman some more gadgets.
* Remove the freeze cluster bomb and replace it with a powerful, once-per-map gadget that allows Batman to trigger a sonic device that calls in a massive swarm of bats, incapacitating ALL enemies on the map for about ten seconds or so and freeing them up for a silent takedown from any direction (like the smoke grenade).
* Make Catwoman's Thief Mode less blurry so I can actually, y'know, see stuff.

Characters
* Robin and Nightwing, each with their own playable story chapters this time, and on the main disc rather than DLC.
* Playable Batgirl
* Return of Two-Face, and this time, don't make him a bitch
* Return of Scarecrow
* Little or no Zsasz (getting kind of tired of him)
* Deadshot, with a better finale
* Hush as one of the main villains
* Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle

Story
* Set at least five years after AC, to give Li'l Punchline a chance to grow up and be somewhat of a character
* Scarecrow returns with Titan and wreaks havoc on Gotham City, forcing the government to set up a quarantine zone in a section of the city with Batman inside (yes, this is me saying the game shouldn't be set in the entirety of Gotham) and you have to combat Scarecrow while dealing with fear-gas-induced Joker hallucinations.

Click to expand...

The thing with Scarecrow and the fear gas sounds good, but I don't want to be confined to another quarantine zone like Arkham City for another full game. 1/3 of it max.

Gameplay
* Context-sensitive takedown animations. We got something like this for counters when Batman's close to a wall, so why not go further with it? Would apply to both combat takedowns and silent predator moves.
* For the love of God, fix the ground takedowns. With the advent of Super Stun, pulling them off is no longer a problem, but I'm sick of Batman doing that goofy little twist through the air only to punch them in the ass rather than the head.
* Give Robin and Nightwing grapnel boosts.
* Give Catwoman some more gadgets.
* Remove the freeze cluster bomb and replace it with a powerful, once-per-map gadget that allows Batman to trigger a sonic device that calls in a massive swarm of bats, incapacitating ALL enemies on the map for about ten seconds or so and freeing them up for a silent takedown from any direction (like the smoke grenade).
* Make Catwoman's Thief Mode less blurry so I can actually, y'know, see stuff.

Characters
* Robin and Nightwing, each with their own playable story chapters this time, and on the main disc rather than DLC.
* Playable Batgirl
* Return of Two-Face, and this time, don't make him a bitch
* Return of Scarecrow
* Little or no Zsasz (getting kind of tired of him)
* Deadshot, with a better finale
* Hush as one of the main villains
* Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle

Story
* Set at least five years after AC, to give Li'l Punchline a chance to grow up and be somewhat of a character
* Scarecrow returns with Titan and wreaks havoc on Gotham City, forcing the government to set up a quarantine zone in a section of the city with Batman inside (yes, this is me saying the game shouldn't be set in the entirety of Gotham) and you have to combat Scarecrow while dealing with fear-gas-induced Joker hallucinations.

Click to expand...

The thing with Scarecrow and the fear gas sounds good, but I don't want to be confined to another quarantine zone like Arkham City for another full game. 1/3 of it max.

Click to expand...

The problem with that, though, is that Gotham City has got to be freaking HUGE. I'd rather keep a small environment with tons of detail (like we've gotten for the past two games) than have a huge city with a bunch of bland buildings everywhere. It works OK for Grand Theft Auto, but for most of that game takes place in the street, whereas with Batman, you're constantly flying around, grabbing ledges, and running off rooftops across every vertical inch of the city. I think RS would do well to keep the size of the environment restricted, and pour as much detail and character into it as possible.

Gameplay
* Context-sensitive takedown animations. We got something like this for counters when Batman's close to a wall, so why not go further with it? Would apply to both combat takedowns and silent predator moves.
* For the love of God, fix the ground takedowns. With the advent of Super Stun, pulling them off is no longer a problem, but I'm sick of Batman doing that goofy little twist through the air only to punch them in the ass rather than the head.
* Give Robin and Nightwing grapnel boosts.
* Give Catwoman some more gadgets.
* Remove the freeze cluster bomb and replace it with a powerful, once-per-map gadget that allows Batman to trigger a sonic device that calls in a massive swarm of bats, incapacitating ALL enemies on the map for about ten seconds or so and freeing them up for a silent takedown from any direction (like the smoke grenade).
* Make Catwoman's Thief Mode less blurry so I can actually, y'know, see stuff.

Characters
* Robin and Nightwing, each with their own playable story chapters this time, and on the main disc rather than DLC.
* Playable Batgirl
* Return of Two-Face, and this time, don't make him a bitch
* Return of Scarecrow
* Little or no Zsasz (getting kind of tired of him)
* Deadshot, with a better finale
* Hush as one of the main villains
* Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle

Story
* Set at least five years after AC, to give Li'l Punchline a chance to grow up and be somewhat of a character
* Scarecrow returns with Titan and wreaks havoc on Gotham City, forcing the government to set up a quarantine zone in a section of the city with Batman inside (yes, this is me saying the game shouldn't be set in the entirety of Gotham) and you have to combat Scarecrow while dealing with fear-gas-induced Joker hallucinations.

Click to expand...

The thing with Scarecrow and the fear gas sounds good, but I don't want to be confined to another quarantine zone like Arkham City for another full game. 1/3 of it max.

Click to expand...

The problem with that, though, is that Gotham City has got to be freaking HUGE. I'd rather keep a small environment with tons of detail (like we've gotten for the past two games) than have a huge city with a bunch of bland buildings everywhere. It works OK for Grand Theft Auto, but for most of that game takes place in the street, whereas with Batman, you're constantly flying around, grabbing ledges, and running off rooftops across every vertical inch of the city. I think RS would do well to keep the size of the environment restricted, and pour as much detail and character into it as possible.

Gameplay
* Context-sensitive takedown animations. We got something like this for counters when Batman's close to a wall, so why not go further with it? Would apply to both combat takedowns and silent predator moves.
* For the love of God, fix the ground takedowns. With the advent of Super Stun, pulling them off is no longer a problem, but I'm sick of Batman doing that goofy little twist through the air only to punch them in the ass rather than the head.
* Give Robin and Nightwing grapnel boosts.
* Give Catwoman some more gadgets.
* Remove the freeze cluster bomb and replace it with a powerful, once-per-map gadget that allows Batman to trigger a sonic device that calls in a massive swarm of bats, incapacitating ALL enemies on the map for about ten seconds or so and freeing them up for a silent takedown from any direction (like the smoke grenade).
* Make Catwoman's Thief Mode less blurry so I can actually, y'know, see stuff.

Characters
* Robin and Nightwing, each with their own playable story chapters this time, and on the main disc rather than DLC.
* Playable Batgirl
* Return of Two-Face, and this time, don't make him a bitch
* Return of Scarecrow
* Little or no Zsasz (getting kind of tired of him)
* Deadshot, with a better finale
* Hush as one of the main villains
* Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle

Story
* Set at least five years after AC, to give Li'l Punchline a chance to grow up and be somewhat of a character
* Scarecrow returns with Titan and wreaks havoc on Gotham City, forcing the government to set up a quarantine zone in a section of the city with Batman inside (yes, this is me saying the game shouldn't be set in the entirety of Gotham) and you have to combat Scarecrow while dealing with fear-gas-induced Joker hallucinations.

Click to expand...

The thing with Scarecrow and the fear gas sounds good, but I don't want to be confined to another quarantine zone like Arkham City for another full game. 1/3 of it max.

Click to expand...

The problem with that, though, is that Gotham City has got to be freaking HUGE. I'd rather keep a small environment with tons of detail (like we've gotten for the past two games) than have a huge city with a bunch of bland buildings everywhere. It works OK for Grand Theft Auto, but for most of that game takes place in the street, whereas with Batman, you're constantly flying around, grabbing ledges, and running off rooftops across every vertical inch of the city. I think RS would do well to keep the size of the environment restricted, and pour as much detail and character into it as possible.

Click to expand...

Sure, I agree with that, I just don't want the whole, "stuck behind enemy lines" gimmick to happen again like in AC. It would be unoriginal. Besides, we could just explore a district of Gotham, not the whole city. Think Infamous.

Gameplay
* Context-sensitive takedown animations. We got something like this for counters when Batman's close to a wall, so why not go further with it? Would apply to both combat takedowns and silent predator moves.
* For the love of God, fix the ground takedowns. With the advent of Super Stun, pulling them off is no longer a problem, but I'm sick of Batman doing that goofy little twist through the air only to punch them in the ass rather than the head.
* Give Robin and Nightwing grapnel boosts.
* Give Catwoman some more gadgets.
* Remove the freeze cluster bomb and replace it with a powerful, once-per-map gadget that allows Batman to trigger a sonic device that calls in a massive swarm of bats, incapacitating ALL enemies on the map for about ten seconds or so and freeing them up for a silent takedown from any direction (like the smoke grenade).
* Make Catwoman's Thief Mode less blurry so I can actually, y'know, see stuff.

Characters
* Robin and Nightwing, each with their own playable story chapters this time, and on the main disc rather than DLC.
* Playable Batgirl
* Return of Two-Face, and this time, don't make him a bitch
* Return of Scarecrow
* Little or no Zsasz (getting kind of tired of him)
* Deadshot, with a better finale
* Hush as one of the main villains
* Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle

Story
* Set at least five years after AC, to give Li'l Punchline a chance to grow up and be somewhat of a character
* Scarecrow returns with Titan and wreaks havoc on Gotham City, forcing the government to set up a quarantine zone in a section of the city with Batman inside (yes, this is me saying the game shouldn't be set in the entirety of Gotham) and you have to combat Scarecrow while dealing with fear-gas-induced Joker hallucinations.

Click to expand...

The thing with Scarecrow and the fear gas sounds good, but I don't want to be confined to another quarantine zone like Arkham City for another full game. 1/3 of it max.

Click to expand...

The problem with that, though, is that Gotham City has got to be freaking HUGE. I'd rather keep a small environment with tons of detail (like we've gotten for the past two games) than have a huge city with a bunch of bland buildings everywhere. It works OK for Grand Theft Auto, but for most of that game takes place in the street, whereas with Batman, you're constantly flying around, grabbing ledges, and running off rooftops across every vertical inch of the city. I think RS would do well to keep the size of the environment restricted, and pour as much detail and character into it as possible.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

What? The central island is the only one with any personality at all. The other two are just full of boring gray buildings.

[Optional]Co-op that's not tacked on for the sake of co-op, setting fully in Gotham, Batmobile usage, maybe one small mission where you have to save Batman with Alfred, actually having to go back to the Batcave to look things over (something like in AA), Detective Bullock interaction, and more Killer Croc, I trust Rocksteady to do everything else right, they haven't done anything wrong.

:^/ I like most of what has been said already. Especially I like the idea of Alfred having an actual scene beyond just his voice over a radio, and an opportunity for Alfred to save the day, or at least make a critical difference in things. Possibly even in a playable role, even if only one, and a short one at that. I also like the idea of a playable Batgirl.

I agree that the AR missions were overdone, especially the requirement to do them twice was unwelcome. (I'd thought that completing the last campaign would earn the Campaign Gold trophy, Perfect Knight Day Two trophy and Platinum trophy, each in turn. Instead, the last two did not, because New Game Plus does indeed require the side mission stuff to be complete, including the Augmented Reality missions. Yuck.) I like the abstract concept of a tutorial system overlaying the real environment, but Rocksteady laid it on a bit thick the way they did it. Throughout the game, I never needed half the gliding skill the AR stuff required to complete it. After beavering away at it for weeks, (off and on,) I finally got the last one done, and was happy about it. Now I realize that I'll have to do them all over again before the last two trophies will kick in. Yuck,

The other thing I want to removed from the third game would be time limits. I hate those.

I like the abstract concept of a tutorial system overlaying the real environment, but Rocksteady laid it on a bit thick the way they did it.

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Indeed. And then there were those awkward moments where Batman basically recites his best tactics to himself before a fight when you encounter a new enemy. I could have done without those as well. The on-screen prompts would have sufficed in that instance.

Great ideas, I totally agree with most of them. Here's mine...in no particular order....

1. Having a reason to go to the ACTUAL Batcave. Whether it's at the start of Batman 3 or if it's just like Arkham Asylum, when we had to go the secret Batcave on Arkham Island to get something...in Batman 3 we have to have a reason to go to the LEGIT Batcave.

2. Robin and/or Nightwing side mission...or I'd be very happy if we got Bruce Wayne side missions.

3. A MASSIVE fear toxin takeover from the Scarecrow. I would have been fine with Scarecrow only appearing in the first game, but after all the hype of his return in Arkham City, I can't freakin' wait!

4. Two-Face to have a bigger and I mean WAY BIGGER role than he had in Arkham City. I literally thought he'd be a main villain in Arkham City when I first saw Game Informer last year, boy was I wrong.

5. Hush as a main villain, I never even heard of this guy until Arkham City and the more that I got to find out about him in Arkham City the more of Hush I wanted to see. Damn awesome villain.

6. Physical appearances from Alfred and Oracle (like I said, we have to go to the god damn Batcave).

7. Talia Al Ghul not dead, I hope her story really isn't over.

8. A Wayne Manor appearance, how cool would it be if the game started off with a party at Wayne Manor and suddenly Gotham comes under attack and Bruce has to unexpectedly leave the party; which would end the "cut-scene" and lead us to find the "secret entrance" and get down to the Batcave and suit up. This whole scene would be totally similar to how we could be Bruce Wayne in the first few minutes of Arkham City.

9. An utterly insane Harley Quinn, I've heard of how crazy she can get without Joker in the comic books, and by the "lack of faith" the Jokers crew had in her in Arkham City (via their conversations) I'd love to see her prove everyone wrong and go Bat-sh!t crazy!

10. A Vehicle mission, I'd still be fine if we didn't get one; but it would still kind of suck if we never do.

-Set in Gotham(larger area)
-Riddler is the main enemy
-expand Catwoman's gadgets
-make both Nightwing and Robin playable(similar to Catwoman's role in AC)
-maybe include Batgirl
-allow use of the Batwing, Batmobile or other transportation
-improve the combat(its already great but it could use some slight tweaks)
-add co-op if it works(I'm thinking more of a challenge room co-op thing)
-lose some of the over the top stuff(example: the shark, I found that a bit to out there)
-expanded roles for under-used villians
-return some of the villians from AA
-more easter egg/guest appearences from villians and heroes in the Batman universe
-have side missions related to Batman helping Gordon/the police
-Batcave and Wayne Manor as area to visit(not just challenge room stuff)

I'm thinking Riddler could be the main villian since his role was expanded from AA to AC. There could be a situation where Batman is occupied or held captive at the begining allowing for Riddler to take control(or set chaos to) Gotham(and of course put his trophies and riddles everywhere). Gotham wouldn't be completely lost like AC was but there would still be plenty of gang battles, Riddler trophies/riddles, random encounters and side missions. The Riddler would be manipulating the other big villians(and of course their henchmen) into doing his dirty work since he is one of the more intelligent villians.

The vehicles would help Batman move around a much larger city. This would allow for quicker movement and maybe even vehicle related side missions/AR missions. There would be road blocks and such so the Batmobile couldn't go everywhere. The Batwing would be your best transportation and wouldn't be to challenging for them to pull off since the remote Batarang already has flight controls.

Co-op would be a challenge room only option. The combat would mostly be the same but combos would be given slightly more time before ending. When in co-op if the players either run into each other or punch/kick in the direction of their teammate it would do a team-up move similar to the 2 and 3 enemy counter. The combat area would need to be large("Survival of the Fittest" or bigger) to give the players enough room to both freely move if they need the space. I think these things would allow for decent combos but not nearly as big as some of the solo combos. I really think co-op could really take this game to the next level it just needs to be done right or not at all.

The Batcave and Wayne Manor could serve as a safehouse/save area(still maintaining the auto-save though). At points during the story Batman would have to return to the Batcave for equipment, use of Batcomputer or other tings. Wayne Manor could be used as a place where the player is Bruce rather than Batman(much more story related) and maybe even serve as a place for a final battle with Riddler or whatever villian he throws at Batman as his last ditch effort to kill Batman.

I want to play a little more as Bruce Wayne. Overall, i want there to be multiple playable characters, not only in the challenge rooms, but also in the story mode itself. I don't care much for Nightwing, but Robin definately deserves some more screentime than he got in AC. I mean, the only scene where he actually shows up, Batman basically just tells him to f**k off. Catwoman got plenty of screen time, almost too much if you ask me, so if maybe there was one or two longer missions where you play as anyone else than Batman in the third game, it would be cool. But i especially want to play as Bruce Wayne. Who knows, now that Hush has his face, we might just need to play a ittle more as Bruce.

Speaking of wich, the villains i want to see in the third game are

- Hush, mostly beacuse he has great story potential.

- Scarecrow, with some newly-designed hallucination sequences - not those spotlight pick-a-boo, they get boring.

- Bane. I know, he's been in both games, but i really want to see him NOT act like the dork he did in both games.

- Azrael, he would be pretty cool in a one-on-one fight. I thought AC did a great job with the Ninjas, but the boss fights, while still fun, were too diffirent from the regular fighting. I would definately like some more Predator-inspired encounters, much in the style of the Fries battle, but i would also like to see some actual fighting. I'm imagining me a mix of Ninja-fighting style, combined with Rä's al Ghul counter sequences and the Joker's fighting moves when you battle him in Joker's Carnival.

:^/ One thing I'd dearly love for the challenge maps would be the ability to drag an unconscious body after knocking a baddie out. This would allow grates to be used again, etc. and also delay other baddies noticing when one of their number goes missing. The trade-off, of course, is that moving a body around slows one down, and makes it more likely for Bats to be discovered....

:^/ One thing I'd dearly love for the challenge maps would be the ability to drag an unconscious body after knocking a baddie out. This would allow grates to be used again, etc. and also delay other baddies noticing when one of their number goes missing. The trade-off, of course, is that moving a body around slows one down, and makes it more likely for Bats to be discovered....

Click to expand...

I like this idea. One more small thing I'd like to add, on a similar note, is a move resembling the Knockout Smash used for vent covers. Just have an option to rip it off instantly at the cost of raising the alarm.

^^ I'm not sure what you're talking about... do you mean a faster way of crawling into ventilation systems? Beacuse you can just slide into them, if you want to do it fast, and i don't think it makes too much noise either.

^^ I'm not sure what you're talking about... do you mean a faster way of crawling into ventilation systems? Beacuse you can just slide into them, if you want to do it fast, and i don't think it makes too much noise either.

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You can? Well, that renders my point invalid. I'll have to try that...

:^/ Rooster, my subscription ran out. Insider used to be $20.00 per year, but the new Prime is $57.00 or thereabouts. About a 185% increase chafes me, especially since my income has dropped about 50% since late last year....

;^) Rooster, my man, that link worked better than you know. I've got my original, uploaded 120×120 avatar back just by choosing it from the list. I recognize it as the one I uploaded three years ago. It seems to have been copied to the same pool as the 80×80 avatars that non-subscribers are limited to. Also, the colored name, title and image signature never left when my subscription ran out, so I'm as good as new.

It would be cool if they added some daytime play as bruce wayne, maybe running wayne ent. or doing stuff at wayne manner. All the stuff that happens in the game cant possibly take place in one night, so maybe add fatigue as a factor when doing missions.

A huge storyline: The storyline should be at least 70% of the game, and much longer than AA and AC. Each chapter should gradually progress into the next, while possibly leaving some cliffhangers for future events.

Bruce Wayne missions: Their should be missions where you stop being Batman for awhile, and tackle the city as Bruce Wayne. These missions can take place throughout Wayne Manor, The Batcave, and pretty much anywhere in Gotham.

More cutscenes: The first cutscene in AA was one of the best I've ever seen in a video game, it truly felt like you were watching a scene from a movie. Now a game filled with those types of cutscenes, the whole time you'd probably be waiting for something epic to happen.

More strategy bosses: The fight with Mr. Freeze in AC was a great fight, because you had to actually think of what you were going to do next. It wasn't just repeating the same moves until the fight ended, you actually had to search the room for something that you could use to help you. If there are more strategy fights in the next game, boss fights will no longer be the weak link of the series.

Driving: One noticeable missing aspect from both AA and AC was the lack of driving. There was no Batmobile, no Batclaw, nothing. In the next game, there should be a few times where we have to get around the city faster, where we would then use one of Batman's many vehicles to help us accomplish that. Gotham is huge, so this makes perfect sense, seeing how Batman wouldn't be able to get around very fast by just gliding and slinging around the city.

Bigger roles for Alfred and Oracle: Oracle was your main contact in AA, and one of your main contacts in AC, the other being Alfred. However neither of them have actually be seen throughout the entirety of both games. So in the next game there should be missions where we have to meet up with them at certain places including Wayne Manor and The Batcave. There can even be a mission where you have to save Batman as either Alfred or Oracle, because of certain events (credit to nic8521 for coming up with this idea).

Boss Mode: There should be a mode where you fight all the bosses that you've encountered throughout the story mode. This wouldn't be unlocked until after you have already beaten the game, and could also include some cameo bosses for extra entertainment and longevity.

SETTING:
I know a lot of people have anticipated that the setting for Arkham 3 would be Gotham City. As much as I would love an even bigger playground, I really hope that whatever Rocksteady chooses, they will maintain the attention to detail and distinct character of AA and AC rather than choosing to feature the entirety of a bland massive Gotham. They should continue to do what they have done well by focusing on a thematic setting. The problem with this is that another quarantine type motif might become repetitive after two games focused on isolation. They can avoid falling into this territory (no pun intended) by choosing to focus on a specific and iconic district of Gotham and having it extremely detailed and multi layered. This can still be larger than Arkham City, but it does not need to be ridiculously so. It seems that the logical process would be to have the third game within reach of Wayne Tower and other important downtown Gotham places. I would also like to see a fully realized Wayne Manor and Batcave, even if just in cutscenes. There could very well be missions that aren't tied to this one main map and could visit other iconic places, such as a mission where you return to the Asylum, or possibly make a trip to Bludhaven as Nightwing... which brings me to my next point...

CHARACTERS:
Bruce Wayne/Batman: It was awesome to see Bruce Wayne as Batman in Arkham City, as brief as his role was. For the next game, I don't know if gameplay as Bruce is necessary, (running Wayne enterprises may not be as exciting as punching thugs in the face) but since there is no Batman without Bruce Wayne, I think his identity should play a major role as far as story elements.

Tim Drake/Robin: I was really excited when Robin showed up in Arkham city, for 16 seconds at least, until Batman told him basically to eff off and he disappeared. He was a blast to use on the challenge maps and its a shame he wasn't playable in the main game. I'm hoping that this badass Robin will return and play a more significant role in Arkham 3, maybe just with Catwoman-esque side missions that contribute to the story as a whole. I'm sure this final battle should push Batman to the limit and he'll need Robin's help whether he likes it or not.

Dick Grayson/Nightwing: Similarly to Robin, I would've liked to see some more inclusion of Nightwing other than his cameo in the challenge maps. They referenced Bludhaven in AC and I would be surprised if Nightwing didn't make an appearance one way or another. Some side missions in the city would be a really cool way to experiment with Nightwing's unique style.

Catwoman:

Alfred: Okay this is just an idea but it would be awesome to get to drive the Batmobile around as Alfred to deliver something to Bruce. Just imagine an all driving mission, possibly a race against the clock to get Bruce a crucial antidote or something, all the while with Alred's proper commentary as he crashes through walls and cars and stuff. Also, as others have suggested, maybe a mission in Wayne Manor or the Batcave where you have to use Alfred stealthily against breaching forces to either retrieve something or to save Bruce.

Oracle: She has had such a role in the games, just through the radio. It seems like a physical presence from Oracle is guaranteed in one way or another, even if just in a cutscene.

Jim Gordon: If the game does take place in Gotham or parts of Gotham, it would be unfaithful to the character to not have Gordon be important to the story. As Batman's biggest ally and closest connection to the Gotham authorities, Gordon may need to step in to a bigger role than the past two games.

STORY:
So after AC the big question is: "Have we seen the end of the Joker?"
Whether or not you think he actually died (possible clayface fake joker AGAIN with the purple suit/black suit theory), Mark Hamill has said that he is done as the Joker.
However, I believe that in one way or another, the Joker will manifest himself in the final game.
Depending on the timeline of the story, we may see his and Harley's child. There may be repercussions from his apparent death, a series of events set in motion by his passing that were pre planned. Harley may be completely hell bent on revenge, and we all know how crazy she can be. Or Batman may have nightmares about Joker due to Scarecrow's fear gas...
The easter eggs in AC clearly point to the return of Scarecrow and his plans to unleash his gas and/or Titan on Gotham. Scarecrow is one of my favorite villains, and I really think that he provides some very interesting story elements as well as a real threat to Batman/Bruce Wayne.
I think that a combination of the repercussions of Joker's death combined with the psychological trauma of what happened in Arkham City make Batman very vulnerable to Scarecrow's methods. Seeing as Batman and Joker's destinies were always so intertwined, I'm sure that Bruce Wayne has not seen the end of it. Those damn voice messages in Arkham City were so haunting and almost flirtatious it made me cringe, and Joker seemed to know all along what would happen.
Finally, perhaps the most exciting and fresh prospect: Hush. Again playing with the Bruce Wayne identity that AC promised and didn't really deliver with Hugo Strange, Tommy Elliot poses a huge threat to Bruce as he can assume his public identity because of his altered appearance. It will truly test Batman to not reveal his secret identity to the world with Hush on the scene.

And finally, the Azrael prophecy pretty much said that Gotham will burn and Batman will be destroyed (in one way or another). This apocalyptic motif really can add some weight and epicness to the final game. Azrael's cameo in AC really made it seem like this was all part of something greater and much more insidious. I can't wait to see how this is realized in the third game.

And there is always the potential for a return from the League of Shadows, and all the other usual rogues.

GAMEPLAY:
First of all, have more of those awesome and engaging cutscenes!! The opening of AC was awesome and visceral, but nothing else ever matched it except maybe the final act.
Also, while combat was very well tuned, I would like to see more environmentally aware and context sensitive takedowns like the wall smashes and stuff.
Bosses need to be more diverse or possibly on bigger battlefields than some cramped room where all you do is roll and jump to dodge and then hit them when they are exposed. I think a grander scale could add a lot of needed freedom to tackle the fights however you creatively decided. If not bigger, than more focused or requiring more thinking... the Mr. Freeze fight achieved this with fluid and changing aspects of gameplay. A good mix of different types of fights could be really refreshing, perhaps even a puzzle type one for fighting the Riddler, etc.
Many people have said that they want the Batmobile and Batwing to drive around the city. I think that instead of being able to use them whenever you want for transport, there could be one or two missions devoted to vehicular action. This way, the awesome gliding system in AC would not be obsolete in Arkham 3. If you could call in the Batmobile whenever you wanted, it would completely change up the flow of the game. If the map is indeed too big to traverse by gliding all the time, maybe a fast travel type option would be available to go from district to district with a cutscene utilizing the Batmobile or Batwing. So a high speed chase to Bludhaven in the Batwing could be a cool segment that could serve to explain a change of setting while giving a fun mission of high flying jet battle action.

Credit to nic8521 wwe_wrestling_fan and everyone else who brought up some of these ideas. This is just my take.

Maybe some Robin and Nightwing tied into the story or also being playable characters like Catwoman.

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I like the idea of having the same story playable as Robin/Nightwing/Batman and maybe Catwoman. The difference would be the way you play. Robin with strong martial arts and insane take-downs. Nightwing with incredible high-flying action and agility we didn't see as much of in the bundle. Brute force and power for Batman. Catwoman... maybe a combo of the 3 with some swagger mixed in. And definately more personality in the characters. Robin should joke around more. Nightwing should taunt the living crap out of his enemies like Dick Grayson would and Batman should... be Batman.

I would also like to see something like in portal 2 where there is like an entire seperate setup for the game and cooperation is necessary. It could also be compared to Lego Batman 2 where the co-op is not going to work unless it's truly co-op. It would be a longer wait for the game to come out but if they can do it with other big-time games, I'm sure the budget can support a good co-op system. And maybe we can finally see the classic Batman and Robin team again